Snippet Saturday: Dialogue

Today's Snippet Saturday theme is "Dialogue".

I love writing dialogue. Several of my critique partners tell

me that dialogue's my strong point. I particularly love to write

dialogue for very different characters.

In the excerpt below from American Beauty published by Ellora's Cave,

there is Kirsty, the sweet preacher's daughter. Gigi, Kirsty's friend

and coworker who is from Great Britain. And Marshall, Kirsty's gay boss.

I love to scour the internet and books and watch movies so I can 

write authentic, scintillating dialogue. At least that's what I try to do.

When an email popped up on Kirsty's computer screen she
opened it. Clucking her tongue and shaking her head in disgust, she called out
to Gigi, "Lover boy's back and wants two dozen yellow American Beauties
delivered this afternoon."

            Gigi ambled over to the
computer and gazed at it with longing, resting her chin on her palm.
"Bugger! Why can't I find a gorgeous chap to be all dotty and doting over
me so that he sends me roses? Tell him I'm a singleton." She wrestled
Kirsty for the mouse. 

            "You've got to be joking,
right? He's only sent roses to the whole free world. He gives ladies men a bad
name." She wrote up an invoice for the roses and looked on the map to see
where the lucky lady's address was this time. It turned out that the lady of
the week lived near her out in Coral
  Springs.

            "You under the weather,
Kirst? Don't you like to get
roses?" Gigi stared at her as if she had sprouted two more heads. “Sounds
pretty purvey to me.”

            Kirsty turned her back on her
man-hungry friend and pulled two dozen American Beauties out of the
refrigerator and prepped them. Ladies men weren’t interested in women who
weighed in at 181 pounds like she had that morning. She bit down hard on her
lip to stop it from trembling before she turned around to her friend. "Sure,
if the guy's sincere. But not from some two-bit charmer who sends roses to
every pretty girl in town." 

            Gigi pouted, sticking out her
lower lip half a mile "Not every girl in town. He's not sent them to me -
or you..."

            Kirsty
grimaced down at herself as she turned around. Right – pretty. Not.

            "Or to me." Marshall flounced in,
separating them. "I don't want to hear you badmouthing our best customer.
Viva la Don Juan! As long as he's romancing the Ft. Lauderdale
ladies we have no worries about closing our doors. May we find a hundred more
like him.”

            "Well, keep Lothario away
from me. I'll prep his roses but if he ever shows up in person, you two can
duke it out. I want nothing to do with the likes of him." Kirsty turned
her nose up at the mere notion of such a nauseating thought.

            Marshall walked up behind Kirsty and massaged
her shoulders. "You still pining for Mr. Love ‘em and leave ‘em, eh Sunshine?"

            Kirsty scowled, snorted, and
tossed her head. "No way! I don't know what I ever saw in him. I like my
men sweet and kind...and loyal. No ladies men for me thank you very much."
Sweet men reminded her of her new roommate. They didn't come much sweeter. Too
bad he didn't like women as he would be really handsome if he dressed like a
man. She sighed. Wishing wouldn't do her any good. She didn't have a magic wand
to change his sexual orientation. She pricked her finger on a thorn and yelped.
Blood oozed from the tiny cut.

            "What
now?" Marshall
rushed to her side, his expression more concerned than his words.

            She sucked her finger
tasting the salty blood on her tongue. With her mouth full, her words came out
garbled. "That rose bit me. I told you that Mueller man was bad
news." 

            Marshall pulled the first aid kit out from
under the counter, cleansed the wound, and bandaged her finger. "It's just
a little prick..."

            "He’s a big prick.”
Kirsty scowled at the email again. 

            “Ooh, just
the way I love ‘em.” Marshall’s
eyebrows danced jauntily.

* If you'd like to find out more about American Beauty please visit Ellora's Cave. 

Kelly Maher
Jody Wallace 
Shelli Stevens
Michelle Pillow
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
Jaci Burton
Elisabeth Naughton
 McKenna Jeffries
Moira Rogers 
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Juliana Stone
Anya Bast
Lacey Savage 
Shelley Munro
 Sasha White
Victoria Janssen
Eliza Gayle 

Win a free download copy of "American Beauty"

Win a free download copy of American Beauty How? Join my new fan site on Facebook (put my name in the search box - Ashley Ladd) and then click on fan (I think - I'm new at Facebook this so don't laugh at me too hard). If you're a Facebook expert, or just have more Facebook savvy than me, please let me know how to easier access my Facebook fan page. :) I want to kick this off right, so I want to give back to all my fans and future fans. "American Beauty" is one of my all-time biggest sellers so I want you to enjoy it. All you have to do is become my fan on Facebook before midnight May 31, 2009. That's it. Quick and easy. If you don't mind the competition, bring your friends along. The more the merrier. I'll host lots of contests, share lots of cool pics and stories from around town and the romance writer's world, and we'll just have fun hanging out. Let me introduce you to my "American Beauty". Blurb:

Kirsty Engle is in shock when Bradley Miller, resplendent in a ball gown, feather boa, and tons of eye shadow, wants to rent her spare room. She can't understand why this obviously unavailable man makes her heart sing and her blood boil more than any other.

An Excerpt From: American Beauty

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave, Inc.

He must’ve dozed off, for he awoke with a start when silky hair caressed his cheek and a lace-covered breast grazed his arm. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” a very sultry, husky voice crooned. “I brought home your favorite – Prime Rib and chocolate covered strawberries.” She perched on the couch beside him, leaning over him, her creamy breasts almost falling out of a slinky, frilly creation he was sure was illegal throughout the First World.

Had he thought of her as a sprite? Temptress was more like it. No, siren was the apt description. Those dusky aureoles peaked out at him again and his blood pressure shot sky high.

He swallowed hard, his pulse hammering and his breathing uneven. His cock sprung to full attention. He knew he should move away, make a joke, or do something to diffuse the dangerous situation, but he couldn’t. Not when she scooted back and rubbed against him, torturing him inhumanely.

She smelled of lilacs, vanilla, and strawberries. Then he realized it was an oddly smoky vanilla scent, and fresh juicy strawberries. He pried his gaze from her tight nipples and noticed for the first time how the dim lights flickered from candles on every surface. “Is it my birthday?” His voice crackled, sultrier than hers. His cock ached to get out of his palace and play. Down boy! It had only suffered a female drought for a few days, not the eon it felt like.

Kirsty licked her shiny lips, slow and languorously, her pink tongue just peeking out those luscious lips, promising pleasure beyond compare to any man brave enough to take up her invitation. And she undoubtedly invited him. But why? Until tonight, she’d been sweet and teetered on the shy side. Why had she morphed into this voluptuous seductress who knew all the moves, and flaunted her voluptuous body in sucking distance, to drive him so wild to forget himself and his mission?

Stars twinkled in her eyes and she ran a fingernail down his chest, which she let hover just below his navel, at the snap of his jeans. Her nipples strained against the see-through lace, taut little buds teasing him unmercifully.

He longed to touch the outer rim of her dusky areole, and his mouth went dry. He could taste it deep inside his mouth.

“What do you want for your birthday?” She leaned over him, and her bodice gaped open to give him a nearly full view of the gorgeous breast.

He sucked in his breath unable to tear his gaze from the perfect view. When she sat down again, rubbing against him, his shaft strained to be free. He didn’t know how much more torture he could stand. Never had he restrained himself before and he could barely remember why he needed to now. The female was not only willing, she was begging him to fuck her.

“Hungry?”

He almost fell off the couch, but rolled into her instead, increasing his pain to even more excruciating levels. “Starved,” he admitted, hoping she didn’t plan to tease and torture him all night like this. If she seduced him, as she surely seemed to be doing, he could succumb. Even Crowe couldn’t fault a red-blooded man for being unable to resist the lures of a nearly naked seductress.

“In that case,” a slow smile dawned over her face making her glow, “Open your mouth wide. I have something special for you.”

Also available at http://www.ellorascave.com Are you on Facebook? Twitter? MySpace? Other Social Media? I'm still pretty much of a social media newbie. In Star Trek terminology I'm a "cadet". I just don't get the nifty Starfleet uniform and I can only take you for a spin around the universe in your imagination. But I swear we'll have a lot of fun. Well, I will, and I'll try very hard to entertain you. If you're also an American Idol fan, and you know who Adam is, maybe I'll also die my hair black and wear really tight pants. I would if it looked halfway as good on me as on him. If you are on these sites, share some tips with me. Follow me, or friend me, or read me - whatever it's called. I'll be your friend and fan, too. Promise. :) Ashley http://www.ashleyladd.blogspot.com http://www.total-e-bound.com http://www.ellorascave.com http://www.newconceptspublishing.com Ashley at Facebook

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

WHO Am I?

When I’m burnt out on editing and writing, I like to visit blogs. Usually blogs written by other writers, editors, and agents.

Saturday night, when I was feeling too sick to write but still bored, I caught up on some agents’ blogs. I started with one I like to visit and hopped to several new ones from there.

One of the agents seems to love American Idol as much as me and she was describing her job and we writers in American Idol terms. I could sooooo relate. In fact, it simplified her thought processes for me. Obviously, I’m too hooked on Idol. At least my family thinks so.

Anyway, I think she got one point across to me very clear that I’ve vaguely thought about. I’m not sure I like it as I’ve been doing it all wrong – if I’m to listen to her and Simon, that is.

Did you see and do you remember American Idol season 4? The one where Carrie Underwood won and Bo Bice was runner up? My favorite season to date (closely followed by last season and Season 5).

Anyway, I remember Simon telling the contestants in Hollywood Week, “Only three of you know who you are musically.” By that he meant Carrie who was country all the way, Bo who was a southern rocker, and Constantine who was a hard rocker (at least up to that point). Simon obviously liked those three as he had liked Fantasia, season 3’s winner who also knew who she was musically.

The agent made a point that we need to know who we are as writers. She explained that we need to pick a genre and stick to it.

Oi! I’ve been all over the place!

I’m listening to the Beach Boys on my MP3 player as I write this – getting back to the music analogy. When you think of Beach Boys or Jan & Dean, you think “beach and car music” and NOTHING else. Those two groups, two of my favorites btw, know exactly who they are. Just like Carrie Underwood is all country and she knows who she is.

I’ve been trying out different subgenres, just about everything except historical: contemporary MF romance is my main thing, but I’ve also written time travels (which is probably my favorite), comedy (my second favorite – but I’m not sure I always hit the mark as comedy is so subjective), space sagas, vampires, and lately MM and MMF.

WHY???

Well, one of my publishers once told us we needed to be business people and write to the market. I know she meant within reason. She wanted me to write multi-racial romance which I tried, which was a dismal failure. I got a couple hate emails so I didn’t venture back there. She also said that what I wrote – contemporary MF romance (sweet) was not selling well except in NY. She also counseled me to tone down the comedy, or maybe to lay off.

This was a long time ago. But I think I lost my identity and forgot who I was. I wrote a couple vampire romances which were supposedly hot as hell. Mine didn’t sell nearly as well as my contemporary romantic comedies (which none of the e-publishers wanted as they seemed to think there was too much competition from NY – and if I couldn’t sell any one of them to NY, then I wanted to sell them elsewhere).

And then I fell into MMF by accident. I signed up to write an MMF for an anthology thinking it meant two straight males who would adore one lucky female. That turned out to be my biggest seller, even bigger than American Beauty. Its first month out my cut (and I only got a third of the take) was triple that of AB. So hoping I’d found a goldmine, I wrote another, The Perfect Gift, which is my bestseller at a different publisher.

Maybe I should have stayed with just that change (MF to MMF). But I didn’t. MM came into vogue so I tried that.

Now, out of my 50 plus books published (some are out of print), I have 3 vampire romances, a couple time travels, about 35-40 MFs, and lately 3 or 4 MMFs, one MFM, and about five MMs. Most are erotic romance in the past five years, since AB came out at Ellora’s Cave. I’m working on an edit for The Wild Rose Press now for a sweet romance. Honestly, it was supposed to be a sequel to American Beauty, but the theme just refused to be erotic, so I changed the heroine’s name and changed the story enough so it’s no longer a sequel and stands totally on its own. But that means yet another subgenre.

At this point, I’m not sure which ONE subgenre to move forward to. Simon would hate me. He’d be all over my back. So would this agent. I’m still undecided.

Until I read this post Saturday, I was actually thinking about writing something for TWRP’s cowboy series which sounds awesome – but that would mean yet another subgenre.

Can you see how conflicted I am? I’m writing this long ass post instead of editing or writing a new story.

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

American Beauty - Why is it so hard to recreate a best selling book?

I asked the other day on this blog why sales might've been lower than I thought they should be for my M/M Christmas romance that released November 2008. Of course it could be the economy or Christmas shopping. Others said maybe M/M romance is getting glutted and/or finally dropping off. Ms. Jones said something to the effect of "Write another American Beauty." American Beauty is one of my biggest sellers, probably my number one. Like I replied in my comment, of course I'm trying, without copying it of course. It's hard to find the secret to a big seller. At least I think so IMHO. I try to write the best book every time I write one. I always try to top the last one. I've tried to recreate the formula for best sellers, but that doesn't necessarily work. Some others have a huge success with every book. Others have some books that stand out way in front of the others. American Beauty was an Eppie Finalist so that could be one reason why. It was good enough to final and it also has the Eppie logo. But I finaled with TWO books that same year. The other book, even though it was good enough to final and also had the Eppie logo, didn't sell nearly as well. In fact, the publisher didn't renew the contract. So those aren't the only two things that sell a book, either. Damn! So what is the perfect formula? Is it vampires? M/M? M/M/F? I wrote a vampire romance which is one of my poorest sellers. Some of my M/M's sell okay, but not as well as two of my M/M/Fs which also sold really well (The Perfect Gift by Total-E-Bound.com and Lady Makes Three by Ellora's Cave). In fact, American Beauty is a (stand alone) sequel to "Purrfect Justice" also published by Ellora's Cave. Purrfect Justice sold pretty well and I was thrilled when the judge at a court case I was almost on the jury for several months ago told me she read Purrfect Justice and loved it - in front of the other jurors and attorneys. Readers (and me) would get tired if I write American Beauty or The Perfect Gift over and over ad nauseum. And yet, I would love to recreate the magic that went into them. All I can do is study them. Dissect them. And try. But then, I'm trying with M/M's and M/M/F's like I tried with vampires and recreating and trying isn't always good enough. Suggestions anyone? REAL suggestions? American Beauty By Ashley Ladd Kirsty Engle is in shock when Bradley Miller, resplendent in a ball gown, feather boa, and tons of eye shadow, wants to rent her spare room. She can't understand why this obviously unavailable man makes her heart sing and her blood boil more than any other. Undercover police officer Lt. Brad Mueller curses his captain and the car thieves that are responsible for him being in such a totally ludicrous predicament. It's bad enough he has to dress like a babe, but he's received strict orders not to touch one for the duration of his secret mission, under threat of being fired from the force. This ladies' man doesn't know if he can stand his worse-than-death sentence - particularly after he falls for his sweet and very voluptuous landlady. As if all of that isn't bad enough, everything gets really crazy when Kirsty and her gay boss make a bet to see who can win his heart. A sizzling, hilarious romantic comedy. Review quotes for American Beauty by Ashley Ladd AMERICAN BEAUTY is a funny, off the wall romp. ~Carolyn, A Romance Review This story has likable characters, and a great supporting cast that will have you laughing out loud, and some sexy scenes that will have you lowering the air conditioner. ~ Five Roses out of Five ~ ~Dee Gentle, GWN Online Book Reviewer AMERICAN BEAUTY is incredibly humorous. ~Robin Taylor, In The Library Reviews

An Excerpt From: American Beauty

© Copyright Ashley Ladd, 2003.

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave, Inc.

He must’ve dozed off, for he awoke with a start when silky hair caressed his cheek and a lace-covered breast grazed his arm. “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” a very sultry, husky voice crooned. “I brought home your favorite – Prime Rib and chocolate covered strawberries.” She perched on the couch beside him, leaning over him, her creamy breasts almost falling out of a slinky, frilly creation he was sure was illegal throughout the First World.

Had he thought of her as a sprite? Temptress was more like it. No, siren was the apt description. Those dusky aureoles peaked out at him again and his blood pressure shot sky high.

He swallowed hard, his pulse hammering and his breathing uneven. His cock sprung to full attention. He knew he should move away, make a joke, or do something to diffuse the dangerous situation, but he couldn’t. Not when she scooted back and rubbed against him, torturing him inhumanely.

She smelled of lilacs, vanilla, and strawberries. Then he realized it was an oddly smoky vanilla scent, and fresh juicy strawberries. He pried his gaze from her tight nipples and noticed for the first time how the dim lights flickered from candles on every surface. “Is it my birthday?” His voice crackled, sultrier than hers. His cock ached to get out of his palace and play. Down boy! It had only suffered a female drought for a few days, not the eon it felt like.

Kirsty licked her shiny lips, slow and languorously, her pink tongue just peeking out those luscious lips, promising pleasure beyond compare to any man brave enough to take up her invitation. And she undoubtedly invited him. But why? Until tonight, she’d been sweet and teetered on the shy side. Why had she morphed into this voluptuous seductress who knew all the moves, and flaunted her voluptuous body in sucking distance, to drive him so wild to forget himself and his mission?

Stars twinkled in her eyes and she ran a fingernail down his chest, which she let hover just below his navel, at the snap of his jeans. Her nipples strained against the see-through lace, taut little buds teasing him unmercifully.

He longed to touch the outer rim of her dusky areole, and his mouth went dry. He could taste it deep inside his mouth.

“What do you want for your birthday?” She leaned over him, and her bodice gaped open to give him a nearly full view of the gorgeous breast.

He sucked in his breath unable to tear his gaze from the perfect view. When she sat down again, rubbing against him, his shaft strained to be free. He didn’t know how much more torture he could stand. Never had he restrained himself before and he could barely remember why he needed to now. The female was not only willing, she was begging him to fuck her.

“Hungry?”

He almost fell off the couch, but rolled into her instead, increasing his pain to even more excruciating levels. “Starved,” he admitted, hoping she didn’t plan to tease and torture him all night like this. If she seduced him, as she surely seemed to be doing, he could succumb. Even Crowe couldn’t fault a red-blooded man for being unable to resist the lures of a nearly naked seductress.

“In that case,” a slow smile dawned over her face making her glow, “Open your mouth wide. I have something special for you.”

Available at Ellora's Cave

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Thursday Thirteen edition 11: 13 of my books/trivia about them

Thirteen of my books and trivia about them 1.... American Beauty - my best seller, Eppie finalist, & RT Top Pick Blurb: When very macho cop and lady lover Brad Mueller is forced to go undercover by his chief as a gay guy, Brad's not happy. He has strict orders not to touch his new land lady, Kirsten, but things get hot, especially when Kirsten tries to set him up with her best friend Marshall and then decides she wants to change Brad's mind. This is the sequel to "Purrfect Justice", also at Ellora's Cave. www.ellorascave.com 2.... And Lady Makes Three (anthology) - my next best seller www.ellorascave.com Blurb: In my story "Pirate's Booty" when space pirates and partners Keir and Zarod kidnap Princess Melena, plans go awry and they wreck on a deserted planet. As they struggle to survive they bond in ways they never would have imagined and soon the pirates invite the princess into their bed. Trivia: I didn't know what "MMF" meant when I submitted my proposal for this story. I thought it meant the heroine got to make love with two men. I didn't realize the two men made love to each other and that the men's relationship came first. My editor quickly set me straight and I rewrote my proposal. :) 3.... The Perfect Gift - my next bestseller www.total-e-bound.com This is an FMM. Can you tell it's a Christmas story? LOL Blurb: When Bianca finds gay porn underneath her boyfriend's side of the bed, she's thrown for a loop. She doesn't want to jump to conclusions and lose the best thing she's ever had. It's almost Christmas and this year she's determined to give Ty the perfect gift. Finally, she decides to give him the gift of a night with her bi coworker, Brendan. The men invite her into their bed and she gets to partake in the gift as well. Trivia: The first editor I submitted this to (whom rejected it) didn't like how I resolved the book. So I rewrote the end of the book and submitted it to the second publisher. The second editor at the new publisher (whom accepted the book) had me change the end of the book back to the way I originally had it, the way the first publisher didn't like. I guess you can't please everybody all the time. :) 4.... Purrfect Justice - prequel to "American Beauty" www.ellorascave.com Blurb: Admin assistant/wanna be police woman Haley's been in love with Ft. Lauderdale policeman Cole Fischer since she came to work at police headquarters two years before. But she's invisible to Cole until the night of the Halloween costume party when she dresses up as the very sexy Cat Woman and then proceeds to save his neck on her way home from the party. Now Cole's hot and on a hunt for his masked savior. Meanwhile, he's getting to know the real Haley. She's getting jealous of herself and he thinks he's falling in love with two very different women. 5.... Brit Party anthology - Best Mates www.total-e-bound.com Blurb: When their best mate Jennica breaks up with her boyfriend, lovers Alec and Kevin decide to help her out with her wish to have a child. But Jennica's afraid the duo is too tame for her - she's into BDSM and a submissive who wants a Dom master. Alec and Kevin decide that two masters are better than one and the three friends find out they really are each others' best mates. Trivia: I was asked by the publisher to write a story for this anthology at the last moment. I think I shocked and terrified my editor when she found out she had to edit it so quickly. I also was a bit mixed up and was thinking this was for the BDSM anthology, Bound Brits. However, they didn't mind having BDSM in this anthology so the story still worked and this book has been an excellent seller, too. :) 6.... Civil Affairs www.ellorascave.com Trivia: The heroine in Civil Affairs, Paige, was my weight loss buddy. For real. I lost approximately 95 pounds a few years ago, a lot of it while writing this book. Thus a lot of Paige's experiences mirrored my own. Blurb: Paige has long been in love with the boy next door, Danny. But she was always just his best friend's overweight little sister. When Danny goes off to fight in Iraq and Paige becomes his pen pal, Danny falls for her - especially when their letters get steamy. 7... Make-Believe Lover www.ellorascave.com Trivia: I LOVE this cover. I wish I could ride on a dragon under the moonlight, too. I'm jealous of my heroine. A second piece of trivia is that my husband and I used to do ceramics together. As he loves dragons, his specialty was ceramic dragons. he sold a lot as he's quite the artist. Anyway, we still have a couple of his dragons and they're in our bedroom. Sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night, they seem to glare at me and they're really spooky, as if they're really alive. Actually, I've often been blessed by the cover gods at all of my publishers. I also love the cover to Civil Affairs. In case you don't recognize it, they're on the Biloxi Beach. At least the Biloxi Beach I knew back in 1979. Blurb: When lightning strikes Becca's TV and she's holding the remote while watching her favorite erotic cartoon, she and her cat Gizmo are sucked into the cartoon world. In this world, Gizmo can talk (and he won't shut up) and the hero whom she's been secretly in love with, is a lot more reluctant than she had ever guessed. 8.... Heavenly Hijinx - part of the Planetary Passions series www.ellorascave.com Trivia: I only submitted one proposal for the Planetary Passions series and this was it. The Senior Editor emailed me and asked if I would write this story for the month of August/Leo instead of for the month of November/Scorpio, which I originally proposed. The guy on the cover is Leo. THE Leo, the lion, straight from the heavens. Isn't he hot? Blurb: Leo the lion is bored in the heavens. No one wants to help him celebrate his birthday in style. So he hops down to earth for a little fun. But he can't get back on his own, and his father Zeus decides to teach him a lesson and make him stay awhile. Meanwhile, all his little Leos are running amuk without his heavenly guidance. So Leo finds a human, Clestie, who has the power to help him get home. Unfortunately, Clestie doesn't believe she has the power, she doesn't believe he's THE Leo, and she doesn't like the occult. In this midst of all the craziness, they fall in love and he's not sure he wants to return to the heavens without her. 9.... Mrs. Right www.newconceptspublishing.com Trivia: In real life I worked at a C-Store/gas station for a year and lived a lot of the craziness the heroine of this book experiences. It was a lot of fun working there, which I never would have expected. Blurb: Blair needs a job yesterday. Her college tuition and her rent is due and she's out of money. So when she sees a help wanted sign, even though it's at a gas station/C-store, she applies and gets the job. She feels it's beneath her, but it's a means to an end. It doesn't hurt that the manager is very cute and sexy. However, she's intent on building a career so she won't end up destitute and hopeless like her dear departed mother. She won't let any man or marriage get in the way. She knows from watching her mother that marriage isn't the answer. She has to be able to support herself if the man suddenly disappears. Race, the manager, is a widowed father who would love to find his Mrs. Right. He thinks he's found her in Blair. However, he lost one wife and his son lost one mother so he's scared that a career woman can't provide what he needs and wants Blair but he also wants a wife who will be a full-time home maker and mother. 10... Shipwrecked www.total-e-bound.com Trivia: I love action and adventure and I also love comedy and romance. What I really love, is when all of them are combined. I think this book combines all those elements as well as a lot of fun in the sun. Blurb: In Shipwrecked, Katie is devastated when her wealthy fiance dumps her for his parents choice of bride. She wasn't good enough in their opinion. So when she gets shipwrecked on a deserted island with even wealthier Scott Vanderhorne, she knows she's cursed. The last thing she wants is to get involved with another man who feels he outclasses her. But when they are alone without society's trappings, their barriers fall and they forget about everything but each other. 11.... 'Confessions of a Nympho' www.total-e-bound.com Blurb: In an effort to promote her books, erotic romance author Tatiana Reece decides it will up her blog traffic if she starts a new blog in which she pretends that her personal life is as racy if not more racy than her novels. She calls it "Confessions of a Nympho" and she makes up some really hot, spicy stuff. When tax season rolls around and she makes her annual visit to her accountant, Ace, the junior accountant handling her case—who has long been secretly in love with her—discovers her blog. Using an alias, Ace begins a torrid online affair with Tatiana that moves into a real world affair. One problem. Ace disguises himself and when she discovers his true identity, she'll be furious. ** Do you think you're seeing double? Or do you think I or blogger went bonkers and loaded the same cover twice? Look closer. They're similar but two different covers. Why? Because "Confessions of a Nympho" has been re-released in print as part of the "Lust Bites Anthology Volume I". Yeah! It was released in print this past Monday, July 7, 2008. So if you didn't read Confessions of a Nympho yet, or if you have but want to have it in print and/or read the other great lust bite stories in Volume One, you can rush over to TEB and get it now. 12.... Wild Fantasies www.total-e-bound.com Blurb: In her futuristic holodec sessions, one magnificent hero fulfills Jala's many wild fantasies, but can he be her hero in real life? Lieutenant Jala Janguardo can't have her Captain Adam Carrington in real life so he becomes her werewolf in London, her Arabian sheik, and her intergalactic bar patron in her holodec fantasies. In real life, she might as well be part of the equipment for all he notices her. Or does he? Trivia: Did you know I served in the United States Air Force? Well, I did. So every now and then, military heroes and heroines pop into my books. And military stories - usually in the form of futuristic space military romances. Second news flash: I'm also a Trekkie. Big time. :) 13.... Liquid Heat in the Heat Wave series www.total-e-bound.com Blurb: Joshua Daly never dreamed he’d fall in love with a man, but when he’s stranded in a nudist colony, it's the super sexy Paul Norris that he wants. When Joshua Daly wrecks in Georgia, aka Hillbilly Hell, he’s put up by his rescuer, Paul, while his car’s being repaired—in a nudist colony. He thought he’d be turned on by all the heavenly female bodies, but to his surprise Paul’s beautiful bod is the one that turns him on. It’s not his fiancée Carole who makes him hesitate to shuck his clothes and give up the corporate life; he’s not sure a Yankee will be welcome in the deep South. Trivia: The hero of this story, Joshua, is a Yankee like me. When his car is wrecked in Georgia, he's not feeling too easy. I understand this. When I lived in Mississippi while I was in the Air Force, I was actually called a "Damned Yankee". Ouch! At least while I lived in the deep south (South Florida is NOT the deep south) the Confederate flag still seemed to wave high. **This story releases at TEB Monday July 21st. That's next week so still in plenty of time for hot, sultry summer reading.

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Wish my luck. My annual review at the day job is tomorrow afternoon. These things always make me nervous. I hate them. Oi!